I Was Lost Without You
by Rayven Feather
Summary: Shepard is gone, and Liara is utterly lost. Takes place in the beginning of Mass Effect 2 and follows Liara for the two years after Shepard's death, leading up to her resurrection. May continue after that. My first Fic ever, so brace yourself! Rated M for violence, language and possibly more later on.
1. Gone

**Author's Note: Well if you're here, prepare yourself for some of my first attempts at FanFiction! I am not a good writer (in my opinion) so I'm not very confident about this, but positive feedback and suggestions is appreciated, don't flame me, because I burn easily! So without further ado, my Fic about FemShep and Liara at the beginning of Mass Effect 2. I also kind of switched around the location of Shepard's quarters on the Normandy to be where they are in Mass Effect 2, hope nobody minds too much! _(edited as of 1/2/13 10:59pm CST)_  
**

Chapter One: Gone

Tears dripped from her flawless pale blue cheeks and she smashed her fists desperately on the escape pod window, frantic screams escaping her lips. She watched helplessly as Shepard struggled in the crushing vacuum of space, the air rushing out of her suit, her body flying away from the pod, plummeting towards the planet below them. She pounded her fists harder, her cries becoming screams of agony. Restraining hands were laid on her shoulders, she thrashed violently and her biotics flared as she struggled against the arms attempting to stop her. She watched in dismay as her bondmate's body floated away and her struggles weakened. She shrieked at the crew in the pod to do something but they merely lowered their heads in sorrow and pity. She stared at them in fury as they simply sat by as Shepard died right in front of them.

Without warning Liara's body convulsed violently and she fell to the floor writhing in agony as she felt Shepard's presence being ripped from her mind, leaving a gaping hole that tore through her, bordering on the line of physical and mental pain. Another scream escaped her lips, one filled with grief and emptiness. She descended into a panic, curling up on the floor and crying as she felt the very being of Shepard being ripped from her as she died. Liara tried desperately, with every fiber of her being to cling to what was left of Shepard. She felt part of herself die along with Shepard, a part of herself that she'd never get back. Garrus tried to comfort her but she merely shocked him with her biotics when he or anyone else got anywhere near her. They could not dull the pain that tore through her.

Memories from just before the attack on the Normandy flared through her mind, adding to other loss that filled her. She remembered curling up in Shepard's arms as they lay together in bed, sharing tender words of affection. Shepard had been reaching for something. Goddess how she ached to know now what the commander had been about to grab out of the drawer. The massive jolt that the Collector beam had wracked the ship with however had stopped Shepard from doing so.

She remembered Shepard yelling at her to go and that she would haul Joker out herself as she had been shoved into an escape pod. Now she was gone. Gone. How could she be gone? Because Joker was too stubborn to let go of his precious ship and had gotten the Commander killed. 'No, because you hadn't stopped her' Liara thought bitterly. Emptiness and anger filled her and she sobbed into her knees, she had always thought of the Commander as an impervious Paragon, always doing what was best and never failing. But that notion was a mere ghost in her mind as she experienced the reality of Shepard's death. The crew around her looked away and closed their eyes trying to block out the reality of it all, not willing to embrace the truth. But Liara felt the reality, and was held tight in the arms of truth. Shepard was gone.

_1 Hour earlier_

Darkness filled the room as Shepard turned off the lights and scurried toward the bed, where blue arms were waiting to embrace her. She fell into Liara's warm embrace and wiggled under the covers and snuggled up next to her.

"I love you..." She whispered.

"As do I." Liara replied softly in the gloom. She felt the asari's warm body pull away to turn on the lamp on the nightstand. Soft light fell upon her gorgeous blue features as she did so. Shepard pulled her back to the bed and kissed her, their tongues meeting briefly. Reluctantly she pulled away this time, giving Liara a kiss on the cheek, and reached towards her nightstand. Before she could pull open the drawer, red emergency lights filled the room and alarms blared. She looked over into Liara's eyes, seeing a flash of panic distort her features. Shepard rolled out of the bed and Liara followed, immediately clasping her hand. They made their way to the elevator when a jolt shook the ship and they were thrown to the ground.

"We're under attack!" Liara said in a shaky voice. Another jolt hit the ship.

"We have to get our pressure suits on or we don't stand a chance if the hull is breached!" Shepard shouted while pushing herself up off of the floor.

She extended her hand to Liara, and helped her up. Immediately running for the elevator, Liara's hand firmly grasped in hers. She punched the button for the Crew's Quarters and pushed Liara in first when the elevator arrived. Liara was obviously scared out of her mind, her eyes wide with fear as she clung to Shepard. As they descended she worried gravely for Liara, the geeky scientist had become everything to her, despite their so far short relationship. She immediately vowed to make Liara her top priority, and had a hint of guilt as she thought about the rest of the crew members aboard the Normandy.

When the elevator ground to a halt, Shepard sprang into action, pulling Liara to where all of the pressure suits were kept. When they arrived there were a couple other crew members pulling on suits, and a few others gathering supplies. She pulled the frightened asari towards the nearest suit terminal and immediately smacked the release button and grabbed the suit, helping Liara into it. When Shepard ensured that her lover would be safe, she began to pull her own suit on, grabbing the helmet and slipping it on when the suit was on properly. She hooked up an oxygen tube and waited as the suit was pressurized, making sure that Liara did the same. As soon as the suits were done she pulled Liara to the stairs that led to the CIC. They were halfway there when the area behind them exploded in a ball of flame. Shepard looked back and saw charred bodies of the crew members that had been getting their suits on. She glanced around for an escape pod, seeing one she took Liara by the arm and dragged her to it.

"No, Shepard! I won't leave you!" Liara shouted as a couple other crew members, led by Garrus, filed into the pod.

"Goddammit Liara this isn't-" Shepard broke off as they heard Joker's voice over the loudspeaker.

"No No No! Come on baby hold together!" He said frantically. Knowing Joker, he'd rather die than leave the ship, Shepard would have to get him out herself.

"This isn't up for debate Liara!" Shepard continued, continuing where she left off. "I'll go and get Joker!"

Liara did nothing but watch as Shepard waited until the last crew members filed into the pod, and slammed the launch button when the last one was secured. She saw Shepard turn to leave before the escape pod door slammed shut.

Shepard turned as the escape pod was launched, relieved that Liara was safe, and ran toward the stairs that led to the CIC. When she made it to the top, the door slid open and she was pulled forward as the pressure vented, leaving her staring out into the open space where the ceiling used to be. She stepped into the ruins of the combat center and was grateful for gravity boots when she saw datapads and chairs floating around her. She made her way to the cockpit and passed through the kinetic barrier that kept Joker from being killed by the pressure. She saw him desperately tapping his fingers on the keyboards, trying in vain to rescue his ship.

"Come on!" She yelled at him.

"No No! I...I can still save her! All I need to-"

"The Normandy is gone Joker, you dying is not going to change that!" Shepard interrupted.

Not waiting for an answer she grabbed him and pulled him towards the pilot's escape pod, and tossed him inside. The brilliant light of the Collector beam flared in front of Shepard as she tried to follow Joker into the pod. It tore through the ship, blocking her way. She looked desperately for a way around it, but to no avail. She returned her eyes to Joker who was yelling and waving his arms frantically at her to get aboard the pod, there was no way that she could have gotten to it, there was no way for them both to get off this ship. She took a deep breath and hit the launch button. As soon as she did her body was thrown around by the force of multiple explosions, and flung open space like a rag doll. She watched the Normandy being ripped apart by the beam.

When she tore her eyes away she looked around for an escape pod that she could board. She had been reasonably calm until it became increasingly hard to breathe. She was soon gasping for breath as her hands flew up to the air tube that fed oxygen into her helmet, only to find it leaking air from multiple holes. Panic took hold and she clutched it in a last light of hope that she could somehow seal the leaks. Black dots filled her vision and she struggled harder. A scream grazed the back of her consciousness, filled with agony. She tried to gasp as she realized it was Liara, she tried to call her beloved's name, but no sound came out. She saw the asari in her mind, wearing a glinting golden band around her finger, standing at the door, giving her that loving, sideways stare that she always did. She clung to the vision of until the crushing blackness overcame her...

**Author's Note: Well that was chapter one... Hope it wasn't too short, I'll update as soon as I can though if people seem interested! _(came back and edited this, wasn't very satisfied with some things. Will be doing this for all of the other chapters as well.)_  
**


	2. Lost

**Author's Note: So, I gave a shot at chapter two. Thanks to all of you that reviewed, it feels wonderful to get the news for a new review! So, here's chapter two, any advice you can give is welcomed! Thanks for reading :)**

Chapter Two: Lost

The next two months for Liara were spent in her apartment on the Citadel. She did nothing but sit upon the bed and stare longingly at her pictures of Shepard, lost in all of the pain and grief of her death. One of the photos, that she so closely cherished, was of Shepard and her sitting together on a couch holding each other, foreheads touching, as they stared intently at each other in pure affection. She remembered the day that it was taken fondly, it was the day that they had defeated Saren and Sovereign, they had been back on the Normandy with the rest of the crew, celebrating. Ashley had snapped the photo of them together, telling them to get a room. The rest of the crew had laughed and so had Shepard. The laugh ringed in her ears, and distant memories of Shepard's voice caressed her consciousness. The other picture was one she had taken while Shepard had been playing a human instrument called the piano. Shepard would spend countless hours playing for Liara, making up songs for her all the time. Her favorite song that Shepard had written for her was currently playing through her mind, every note as she had remembered it. She stirred slightly, revealing weak limbs that looked like they couldn't even lift a feather. Liara was thin, she had barely moved at all for the last week, much less eaten, and never once had taken her eyes off of the photos. She hadn't even seen daylight since she had gotten to the small apartment, which currently was in ruins around her because she had had an outburst with her biotics screaming at the unfairness of it all, while sending furniture flying across the room. She had found happiness for once. And Shepard had given it to her. But now Shepard was gone and her happiness was gone, all that was left was a gaping hole in her mind, filled with emptiness and grief. Joker had tried to come see her but but she'd sent him away, angry because she still blamed him for Shepard's death. But she knew who was to blame; herself. She blamed herself for letting the Commander go in the first place, she could have stopped her, but she hadn't, she had just stood there and gawked as the Commander launched the pod. Liara laid there and sleep crept up on her and finally claimed her thoughts.

She dreamed that she was back on the escape pod and the inner airlock opened, revealing Shepard standing tall and proud, more beautiful than ever, her helmet under the crook of her arm had short dark brown hair that fell just to the tips of her ear lobes hung about her face and her blue eyes shined. Her pale hand beckoned Liara forward. She lunged at Shepard having every intent of crushing the human in her arms whispering words of affection into her odd ears that she had always made fun of and stroking her feather soft hair. But as she drew Shepard into her arms she felt her go limp. "Shepard?!" She screamed. But the Commander collapsed, eyes rolling back into her head and Liara knelt down clutching her in her arms. "No... Renn..." She murmured, the Commander's name rolling off of her lips.

"Why didn't you stop me?" Rasped Shepard. "Why Couldn't you save me?"

"Please I'm sorry... It's all my fault, I should have stopped you... Please forgive me... Don't do this again..." She choked, as emptiness threatened to engulf her. Liara cried out in pain as their connection was severed once again, leaving raw emptiness behind.

Liara awoke suddenly and violently, trashing in her bed, limbs tangled in the blankets and tears cascading down her cheeks. She groped for the pictures but was unsuccessful, she sat up and looked frantically around the room. They had been thrown across the floor. Liara immediately scrambled off of her bed and began to walk awkwardly towards them, but not making it very far before collapsing on the cold hardwood floor. She'd grown so thin that she couldn't even walk. As Liara struggled feebly on the ground, the door to her apartment flung open with a silent whoosh. In the doorway stood Tali, her mask glinting in the dimly lit room. "Liara?!" Tali exclaimed, running across the room to help her friend up off of the floor. Liara reached weakly for the pictures on the ground, Tali took notice and picked them up after sitting Liara down on the edge of the bed. She placed them in Liara's outstretched hands and sat next to her desperately trying to think of a way to comfort her. She put her arm awkwardly around the asari's shoulders and silently looked on as Liara gazed longingly down at the photos, eyes filled with tears and grief. After a couple moments Tali spoke,

"you can't go in like this." Liara simply turned her head and practically stared straight through the quarian. Tali continued unabated by Liara's ghostly stare. "Would Shepard have wanted to see you like this? Don't you think that she'd have wanted you to carry on? Be happy?" Liara tried to speak but her voice cracked from under-use and dehydration,

"I-"

Tali stood abruptly and strode over to the wrecked kitchen and looked around for a glass. Liara stayed where she was and stared at the pictures as she had done for the past week. Tali found a partially cracked glass on the floor and filled it with water, it dripped slightly, but it would have to do. Walking back to Liara she thrust the glass into the blue hands. Liara accepted it wordlessly after a moment and drank with tenative sips, eyes still on the photos. Tali walked over to the blinds and slowly opened them, watching the light slowly creep across the floor until it finally reached Liara. The asari blinked rapidly squinting her eyes against the light and turning her head away. Tali frowned under her mask, she did not like to see Liara like this, thin and grief stricken, she looked like a mess, eyes puffy from crying, cheeks flaky and raw from rubbing away tears, thin from not eating, and a gaunt, shadowed look from exhaustion. But the worst part were her eyes, they looked dull and lifeless, they looked broken, shattered into a million pieces. Tali could not help but to look away from her empty stare. Liara finished the water and put the glass on the intact nightstand and stood up and stumbled over to Tali, grabbing her shoulder for support.

"I... Just don't know what to do... We never... We never... She never..." Liara broke off tears streaming from her eyes. "She had... Never gotten the chance to propose..." Liara choked, voice shaking, as she held out her left hand for Tali to see. On it was a golden band with tiny sapphires embedded into it. "They found it in the wreckage... She was going to propose... Right before... Before the attack..."

Tali gasped, she had not known anything about Shepard's apparent plans to marry Liara. She pulled the asari into a comforting hug and let the her sob into her shoulder. After awhile Tali held Liara out at arms length and looked into her eyes from underneath her mask.

"Liara..." She began, not knowing where to start, looking at the broken woman in front of her. "You need to pull yourself together. Not just for yourself and all those who care about you, but for her." Tali murmured softly. Liara looked up at her and took a deep breath

"what would I even do?" Liara inquired.

"I thought about that and I might have found something for you. A job, as an information broker on Illium." Tali replied.

"Me? An information broker?" Liara whispered, mostly to herself. There might have been a time when she would have laughed at the idea, but not now, she hadn't even had anything close to a trace of a smile touch her lips in over two months.

"I think you should look at it, Renn would have wanted you to do something..." Tali said softly, almost choking on the Commander's name. "And you're so smart, and you've always been good at gathering and analyzing data and information."

"Send... Send me the info I need..." Liara murmured, in a wavering voice. She closed her eyes and pulled away from Tali to look out the window... Glancing at the photos, She thought, 'I may have been lost but that doesn't mean that she can't be found again...'


	3. Found

**Author's Note: Well here's chapter three, I'm unsure about some parts of it but, the only way to learn it to try it, right? And thanks for the reviews, they motivated me to write this. So... Enjoy :)**

Chapter Three: Found

Blue fingers tapped swiftly along a keyboard, equally blue eyes fixed on a computer monitor. Doctor Liara T'soni sat at her desk on Illium deep into her work as an information broker, the pictures of her and Shepard sitting framed on the desktop, always within view. Sunlight dappled her blue skin from behind and showered the room with light only broken by the asari's shadow. The owner of the shadow sat deep in her work, completely mesmerized. It had been a full month since her meeting with Tali, since then Liara had somehow managed to pull herself together and had fought through the barrier of grief, holding onto the thought that Shepard wouldn't have wanted her to break down and give up like that. Since then she had quickly adapted into the business of information. It was her currency, she bought and sold secrets, lies, and plots, making a living off of it all. She still grieved deeply and still had terrible nightmares, that would have her waking up writhing in the bed and sobbing with terror, but she had learned to live with it, to carry on and do what Shepard would have wanted her to. She was getting better, at least that's what she told herself. Liara paused in her work and looked at the golden band that lay wrapped around her finger and allowed herself a moment for a wave of sadness to wash over her as she thought about her lover. Since enrolling herself into the job, she almost never had time for her feelings, 'but perhaps', she thought to herself during these rare moments, 'it's better this way'. The terminal in front of her beeped, stirring her from her thoughts, and she immediately settled back into her fast paced typing. She worked for the day, fingers keeping up a steady rhythm for most of it, only breaking off when her assistant interrupted her. The work was only tolerable because she was able to lose herself in it, deep enough that she could function and work. It was a sad reality, but a step forward from the crippled form that she had been just a short month ago. Late at night she returned to her apartment, sighing when she stepped through the threshold of her home, looking out the window at the skycars that zipped by in the late-night traffic. She headed to the small kitchen and heated up a quick meal, eating it slowly as she walked around her apartment not bothering to sit, being in a chair all day made the notion of sitting down repulsing. Looking around the room she chewed slowly, there were Prothean artifacts in glass cases around the room, her favorites that she'd had brought here. She admired them, and thought about the untold secrets they might hold. She hadn't had time to even really glance at them since she got here, free time was not a luxury she could afford, always the risk of missing valuable data when she just came home to sleep. But the artifacts did stir a memory from within her. The first time she had met Shepard, when the human had rescued her from the Geth on the planet Therum. She continued her slow walk around the room with her memories until she came across her favorite display; a miniature model of the Normandy. Why was it her favorite? Because she missed that part of her life dearly. Not just being with Shepard, but adventuring and exploring the galaxy, being with other people. She had spent most of her early life alone at dig sites for Prothean artifacts and things on the history of the galaxy, because she had wanted to escape the shadow of her mother; Matriarch Benezia. But Benezia had been indoctrinated by Saren and had died fighting back on Noveria. Her mother's last words echoed through her mind; "Good night little wing... I will see you again at dawn..." She winced at the thought of her mother, whom she missed almost as dearly as Shepard. Liara finished off her meal, banishing her thoughts, and headed to bed, wriggling under the soft sheets and tossing and turning until she found the most comfortable position. She laid there and stared out the window, watching the blinking lights of the busy city until her eyes began to grow heavy. The asari instinctively reached behind her seeking Shepard's body, but remembered the crushing reality as soon as her fingers brushed the sheets next to her. Silent tears escaped her eyes as they began to droop, before finally sleep laid claim over her body and mind and she drifted off.

She dreamed of Shepard, but for once it wasn't a nightmare, but a dream. She dreamt that Shepard and her were back on the Normandy, the night of the Collector attack. But it was different, they went to bed, but the Collector ship never came, never attacked. More like a memory, she saw Shepard's dark form scurry over to the bed where Liara enveloped the human's slender body in her arms, holding her close. Liara felt the need to see her lover's perfect face, so she reluctantly pulled away and flipped on the bedside lamp. Shepard pulled her back down as light fell upon them, and the human's breath tickled her nose as she murmured, in a voice that was only meant for Liara;

"I love you..." A smile danced across her blue lips as she kissed Shepard lightly, tongues meeting briefly. This time Shepard broke off, and kissed Liara on the cheek before reaching over into the nightstand drawer. When she withdrew her hand she held in it a small black box. Liara gave a curious glance to Shepard who merely turned to the blue maiden before her and opened the box, revealing a golden band with tiny sapphires embedded into it sitting on a pillow of satin.

"Liara T'Soni." Shepard murmured softly, words sincere. "Will you marry me?" Liara was lost for words as she felt her heart swell. Words failed her as plump, crystal tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. She looked up at Shepard and kissed her deeply, their tongues dancing a dance of passion. The kiss lasted a few moments, until they broke off coming up for air. Liara buried herself in Shepard's arms, breathing in her sweet scent and simply said "yes."

Liara awoke from the dream to beams of sunlight streaming through her window, her cheeks wet with tears of happiness, she trembled under the sheets, the magnitude of the dream racking her body. She rolled over and looked at the photo she kept of Shepard on the nightstand and smiled at the beautiful soldier who gazed back at her from behind the thin glass of the frame. She laid back down and closed her eyes against the sun filtering in through the window, dancing across the room, and swore that she had heard Shepard whisper in her ear; "You may have been lost, but now you've been found..."


	4. Proposition

**Author's Note: This chapter I'm more unsure about than any of the others. It is a bit shorter, but I think that the concept of it will make up for that... If I wrote it well enough to display my point properly. So give me some feedback and tell me what you think! :-)  
**

Chapter Four: Proposition

For the next few weeks Liara's mind echoed the sound of Shepard's words almost constantly. Some nights she would lay awake thinking about them, and her cheek would tingle as if Shepard was about to kiss her. However when she reached over to her side, she was always rewarded with sheets devoid of any sign of her lover's body. Since her last dream her nighttime had been clear of both dreams and nightmares. she only occasionally dreamt of her memories with Shepard, but enjoying them all the same. Although she seemed to be getting better, her feelings were still kept concealed deep in her mind, bottled up, and only at the rarest moments did she acknowledge them; still thinking that it's best if she kept them hidden so that she could keep up her calm, and collected information broker facade.

She kept up her work, unhindered by firewalls and gathered more and more information and resources, slowly becoming a more prominent force on Illium. Today she was following a trail on a huge red sand deal somewhere on Illium that was going to take place illegally, by request of the officials, in exchange for some of their resources. She traced information codes and omnitool communications until she came upon the right one; some volus named Zoros. She forwarded the information to her contact and sat back in her chair. Closing her eyes, she sighed and put a hand on her temple. She sat there for awhile completely still, showered by the setting sun, her only movements was the steady rise and fall of her chest. She began to venture into her bottled up, compacted emotions until the scene was interrupted by an urgent beep from her computer. She sat upright and looked intently at the screen. A heavily encrypted message had appeared;

_To: Doctor Liara T'soni, Illium_

_From: Cerberus  
_

_Subject: A Proposition_

_Dear Doctor T'soni, we understand that you were close to Commander Renn Shepard, closer than just about anyone else._

Liara winced at seeing Shepard's name, but forced herself to keep reading the message;

_So, due to you close relationship with Shepard, we would only trust you with this particular task. If you are interested please head to Omega, and talk to Aria, she has the info that you need.  
_

_-ML_

Liara sat back once again, tears beginning to dribble down her cheeks, the shadows closed in around her as the sun dipped beneath the horizon. The bottle that housed her emotions began to crack as she began to panic at the message. What do they want her to do that has to do with their relationship? And more importantly, what was Cerberus? And who was ML? The thoughts flooded her mind, and the bottle shattered, letting all of her emotions free. She soon became overwhelmed with grief, curiosity, anger, and guilt. She hunched over, burying her head in her hands and cried. She let out all her emotions through choked sobs and pathetic cries of anguish. If only Shepard could see her now, a broken down mess. She thought that she had been getting better, but Liara knew that she had just been lying to herself. She to chastised herself for not being stronger. She still grieved deeply, she couldn't fully move on, she never would. Liara sat back once more and thought for a moment. 'I'm going live for another 1,000 years... How can I?' wait... you can't' she thought bitterly. She would never be able to escape the memories that constantly assaulted her. She couldn't even see Shepard's name in a message without wincing. Living for so long without Renn... how could she? Was there a way? She thought for a few moments when it dawned on her, the idea was so blatantly obvious. It was extreme... But it would save her the pain, the agony, the grief... It would save her from all of this, and even though she did not believe in afterlife, she would be with Shepard. Liara steeled herself and reached towards the desk drawer, almost in a trance-like state, pulled out a small silver pistol, ironic that it was supposed to be used for self defense. She had never considered suicide before, but now death seemed rather appealing. She lifted the pistol out of the desk and turned it over in her blue fingers, the silver reflecting her blue skin in the darkness. Liara took a deep breath and slowly, with a shaking hand, moved the pistol up to the side of her head before resting it there, against her temple. She closed her eyes and thought about her life, it had been interesting, but the thought of living without Shepard was hardly a life at all, more torture than anything. She opened her eyes and glanced around the room, looking out the window, glancing at the computer monitor, before her eyes settled on the pictures of her and Shepard. She felt a ghostly hand on hers trying to pull the pistol away and the faint whisper of a piano echoed in her mind. A jolt ran through her body at the sight of Shepard, and the spectral influences. She flung the pistol across the room, attempting to stand but collapsed on the carpeted floor in exasperation. She curled up into a ball and began to cry once again, the seemingly endless flood of emotions washing over her again. What had she just been about to do?! How could she have even brought herself to even consider... Killing herself, ending her life because of the Commander. Renn would have been so upset. 'What am I going to do now?' she thought as she hefted herself warily back into her chair. "What should I do about this message?" she mumbled, but as soon as the words crossed her lips she knew the answer. She would go to Omega and get some answers and see what this 'proposition' was all about.


	5. Omega

**Author's Note: Sorry about the delay! I blame these wonderful people and their stories for holding me up; Octoberskys, Theodur, and Tayg. Their stories are amazing, and I felt compelled to mention them here, but anyway, here's chapter five! Note: Does kind of touch on some of the ideas from Mass Effect Redemption. I had to do some digging in the wiki lore and whatnot to write this, including going out and buying Redemption XD. Enjoy :-)  
**

Chapter 5

The shuttle ride to Omega was long and tiresome, but Liara eyes barely drooped during the whole trip. Drowning all of the sounds around her out while keeping her fingers firmly latched to a data pad, reading the message over and over again, hoping that somehow the words on the screen would change for her, spelling out a proper explanation of all this.

The shuttle held various species from the galaxy, a very peculiar drell was seated next to her but she payed him no heed as she mindlessly looked at the bright screen, her eyes beginning to sting and her vision blurring.

Ever since she had realized after flinging the pistol across her office that she had been about to kill herself she had become very reserved, burying her emotions even deeper into her mind, trying to bind herself so that she couldn't fall apart any further, but with what she was binding herself together with, was a mystery.

Once she felt the shuttle slow and saw the green light signaling that passengers could exit the ship, she stood up abruptly, and started walking towards the airlock at a brisk pace. She forgot about the drell seated next to her and tripped over him, her slender body was sent crashing to the ground.

"Sorry! Are you ok? I hope I didn't hurt you!" She could hear the drell babbling apologies from behind her, but she ignored the hand that he had extended towards her and pushed herself off of the ground merely nodding at him before rushing off of the ship.

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The drell watched the asari known to be Doctor Liara T'soni walk off of the shuttle. He swore under his breath as he pressed his index finger to the microphone in his ear speaking quietly. "I have failed to make a connection with the target, I will change tactics and try again. Feron out."

After cutting off the transmission Feron glanced down to his feet, between them was the asari's datapad. He smirked before picking it up and reading the message it displayed. Stowing it away he followed after the Doctor, a plan beginning to take shape in his head.

%%%%%%%%%%

Liara made her way through the customs of the seedy station and made her way through the long corridors slowly making her way towards Afterlife, where the 'queen' was known to reside. Unknowing of her missing datapad.

Dodging through the crowds she intently strode to another elevator, slipping through the doors and slapping the button to ascend further up through the stations pressured walls. When the doors swooshed open again she found the area outside the doors surprisingly deserted. Red flags immediately went up in her head and with an air of caution she stepped out of the elevator, hand on the pistol hanging from her hip.

%%%%%%%%%%

Feron watched the asari look around cautiously before stepping out of the elevator. He once again looked over the message on the captured datapad and went over his plan; first greet her, tell her you're from Cerberus, and hope she does not know exactly what it is yet; second feed her false information; third trail her and ensure that she has been thrown off of the trail. After reciting his plan once more in his mind, he stepped out from the shadows.

%%%%%%%%%%

Liara whipped out her pistol at the first sign of movement, aiming right between the suspect's eyes. She narrowed her eyes as she realized that it was the drell from earlier.

"What do you want?" She spat, not wanting to be delayed.

"I know why you're here..." The drell replied coolly.

"You... You... Know?" She said, her voice cracking excessively.

"Why yes, of course!" He lied, "you did get our message I presume?" He beckoned her to follow him down an alley and she hesitantly complied.

"In the message I was told that I was to speak with Aria." The asari said, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"Ah, yes, well our plans have changed. We hoped that you'd be flexible in this type of situation."

Liara nodded, still not fully trusting the drell, but followed him anyway, her only link so far to what this was all about. She then reached down into her bag and rummaged around looking for her datapad. When she could not find it she froze, staring at the drell who was oblivious to her sudden stop. Her datapad had the message on it, and now it was gone. The drell had tripped her back on the shuttle. She had dropped the datapad, he had picked it up.

As soon as she realized that the drell in front of her had the datapad, she turned around and bolted back down through the alley, bolting down another one, and then another, getting lost in the street system of Omega. Stopping around a corner to catch her breath.

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Feron had an air of triumph about him as he led the asari off. But it faded as he heard the woman's footsteps halt and them begin to quickly recede back down the alley. He acted quickly, crushing his finger to the microphone and almost yelled into it. "Track her down and find her! We can't let her get away!" _Why was this going all wrong? 'This was supposed to be an easy mission!' _he thought frustratedly.

_'But it could be your own weakness, she is pretty...' _Feron shook his head violently, clearing the thought. _'Where did that come from?'_

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After Liara caught her breath she emerged from around the corner that she was hiding around and began to make her way back to the main street so she could get to Afterlife. She heard heavy footsteps behind her and her biotics flared. She was about to issue a deadly pulse to her pursuer but stopped dead as she heard the click of a pistol aimed at her head.

"Not so fast!" A gruff voice spoke. She raised her hands and gulped as she saw several figures emerge from behind her, all clad in the infamous Blue Suns armor.

Two of them seized her arms and held them firmly as a massive krogan stepped into view, pistol still pointed at her head. "What do you want?" She said quietly.

"Don't play dumb with me, blue brain! The shadow broker wants to know why you're here and what that little message from Cerberus was about!"

Liara didn't even notice the tears that began to drip down her cheeks. "That's why I'm here, to figure out all of this!" She cried.

The krogan growled and leaned in close, causing Liara to turn her head away as rancid breath blasted her face. "Tell us what Cerberus wants!" He growled.

"I don't know!" Liara pleaded.

"I've had enough of this!" The short-tempered krogan growled, raising the pistol once more.

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Feron dashed through the alleyways intent on reaching the asari before the krogan from the Blue Suns killed her out of frustration. He laughed inwardly at knowing what they didn't. He knew what Cerberus wanted from the Doctor and why she was here. But the krogan didn't, and neither did the asari.

As he came up to the scene he saw the krogan raise his pistol and the girl's tear streaked face. He stopped, thinking about what to do. Hearing the girl plead made his heart twist, and he felt something he'd never felt before... It felt... Good... Looking once more up at the asari, something inside of him changed as he saw the vulnerable blue face before him. As if in a trance he whipped out his pistol and shot.

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Liara closed her eyes as the krogan raised his pistol and flinched as she heard a bullet being fired. After a few moments she opened her eyes in bewilderment to see the drell standing above the krogan's limp body, brandishing a pistol. He shot two more bullets into the heads of the men restraining her and holstered his pistol, walking over to her. She collapsed to her knees and stared at him in disbelief as he strode to her.

"YOU!" She screamed at him, her biotics flaring.

"Wait I can explain!" He said as the angry asari advanced toward him.

"NO! NO EXPLAINING!" She yelled before swinging her glowing fist, bringing it in direct contact with his jaw. The drell toppled to the floor at her feet.

"You saved me... But why?! You're working with the shadow broker, with... them" She glanced back at the corpses that lay on the ground, their wounds oozing blood. "I don't even know why I'm here yet..." Liara turned vigorously wiping away the tears that stained her face. The drell stirred slightly and moaned, green blood dribbling down his chin. It took a few moments before he hauled himself off of the dirty ground.

"You could have killed me! And you're welcome, now maybe I can fill you in on this."

Liara turned on him and narrowed her eyes. "You're saying that you know more about all of... of this? And why all of a sudden have you chosen to help me, for all I know you're just going to stab me right in the back when you get whatever it is you want."

"I decided to help you because-" The drell paused mid speech pondering his words before continuing, "because I've had a change of heart, if that's the right acronym."

Liara eyed him skeptically. "Well then spit it out, what is this all about, why does 'Cerberus' want me here? And what is 'Cerberus' exactly I believe that we might have crossed paths at one time, but I don't remember the details all that well."

"Well," he began, "I'm not sure how you'll react to this but, the shadow broker has been working out a deal with the collectors."

"The collectors?!" Liara interrupted. "But they're just slavers, what do they have to do with all of this?"

"I was just getting to that, the broker was working out a deal with them. He was... He agreed to find, and give them the Commander's body."

Liara swayed on her feet."Why... Why do they want Shepard's body?"

"I don't know, they just want it. They've always had weird requests like this, like five left-handed salarians or a midget krogan. But this by far is the most bizarre one yet. And 'Cerberus' is a human-survivalist paramilitary group, their core belief is humans deserve a greater role in the galactic community. Basically an alien hate group, and they want you to stop the broker's deal from happening, get them the body instead."

It took a moment for Liara to take it all in, and another until she trusted herself to be able to talk. "So where is this deal happening?"

"I'm not sure, apparently Cerberus trusted Aria with that information, or else she already knows. I wasn't told because that wasn't part of my mission, mine was solely to lead you off."

"How do I know I can trust you? I don't even know your name." Liara said, backing away from the tall drell.

"My name is Feron, I already know yours though, Liara right?" The asari nodded curtly.

"We better get to Aria then, we're wasting time just standing here." Liara said, beckoning for him to follow as she set off at a brisk pace roughly in the direction of Afterlife.

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Feron smiled slightly as he watched the asari march ahead of him in the direction of Afterlife, but he could not stop his thoughts from gnawing away at him.

_'Why did you save her? Why did you practically turn against the broker?'_

He thought for a few moments, but could only come to one conclusion. But it was outrageous, possibly just an infatuation...

'_Was he attracted to her?_ _No... but why else would you have saved her, why else would you have just turned on the broker so easily?' _Feron wondered if the asari next to him was thinking the same things about him...

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The walk was silent and Liara was left to the mercy of her roaming thoughts, completely oblivious to the feelings brewing in the head of the drell next to her.

_'Shepard's body is... here... And you've got to rescue it from a deal with some crazy alien slavers.' 'Only to turn around and give it to a, what in her mind seemed to be, a terrorist organization.' _Liara found it odd that even in death, the Commander was still taking her on impossible missions.


End file.
